Chapter 1

Tessa’s point of view

THROUGHOUT my life, I’d say that the sunset had given me comfort. It was a constant reminder that every struggle had its end, every wound would heal, and every hot tear would fade away. My body, even my soul, could feel the exhaustion from facing my everyday battle. Numerous times I felt that fate had been mocking me as it watched me go through such hardships and miseries I’ve been wanting to escape from. However, now that I watched how the sun was setting down solemnly right before my eyes, it gave me hope, peace and a little amount of happiness, and I felt that someone beyond mighty who couldn’t be seen but rather felt, patted me on my shoulders and perhaps, proud of me as I’ve survived the day.

I sighed, my breath steaming in the air as I walked home after a long tiring day at school. Compared to my sister who was picked up by our family driver, I’ve been walking a long road to go home ever since dad reluctantly enrolled me in White Bridge High. It was scary, I had to say. The school was two hours away from our house. If I didn’t leave school early, I'd be welcomed by the darkness of night on my way home. There were times I felt that someone was watching me from the forest across the main streets, but gradually,  I just got used to it.

I bet I would have not experienced such a thrill at night if my parents spared a little amount of concern for me.  At first, I admit that it was difficult when the people I considered as family were treating me like a total stranger and made me feel unloved, unwanted and irrelevant. But as years passed by, it felt that I got used to it–to the familiar pain, and what I thought worst was still wanting them to accept and love me, regardless of the blood running through me.

“How dare you, bastard!” A big slap struck my face when I opened the main door of the house which had been a hell for me for most of my life. Astounded, I felt the familiar pain and numbness on my cheek.

I gasped. A pang of anxiety went through me. Even though I got used to this kind of beatings, as I had been encountering it mostly everyday, I still wanted to question why fate seemed to love fucking my life to the fullest.

“I don’t understand what the slap is for, dad,” I managed to say, voice shakingly braved as I turned to him.

Eyes smoldering, he gripped my arm as he pulled me and grabbed my jaw tightly.

“Chelsea informed me about what you did to her at school. How dare you try to outsmart my daughter in class? She was supposed to get the top spot but you ruined it! You stole it from her!” Dad screamed those words to my face, that made my knees tremble.

“It wasn’t my intention, Dad!” I reasoned, lips quivering as I looked at him. “I told Chelsea to study for the final terms but—”

I didn’t manage to finish my words when I felt another blow of slap on my other cheek. I fell on the floor, tears pooled in my eyes as the pain from my swollen cheeks became unbearable.

Then I heard footsteps coming from the stairs. When I slowly looked up to see the people watching my end-of-day misery, I saw Chelsea sneering at me. With her crossed arms on her chest, she walked downstairs together with Mom who was also looking at me like I was some sort of a thief inside the house.

“I feel so disgusted as to how you manage to act innocently in front of my parents.” Sarcasm dripped off every word Chelsea said. She then looked at Dad. “Dad, I think it’s time for me to tell you how Tessa had been bullying me all this time at school.”

All I did was shake my head. Hearing Chelsea made my pulse pound wildly. Why was it easy for her to come up with such lies? I did treat her as my real sister…

“She humiliated me in class a lot of times, Dad. While you and mom were gone for a hunt last week, she tried to kill me because she wanted to replace me as your daughter. She’s delusional and harmful!”

“You gotta be kidding me. How dare you try to kill my daughter, bastard?!” Mom marched toward me and pulled my hair.

I screamed in pain. Her long nails were digging deeper through my scalp. I tried to stop her but she was too strong and violent.

“That isn’t true, Mom! Please, let go of me…” I cried. “Chelsea is lying! She’s the one who’s bullying me at school. I-I can’t do the same thing to her!”

“And now you’re calling my daughter a liar? Your audacity really amazes me, Tess! Let’s see if you can still hurt her once I throw you on the street!”

“N-No, Mom! P-Please, please, forgive me! I swear I didn’t do it!” I begged her as she started dragging me to the main door.

“You’re such an ungrateful bitch! We should’ve kicked you out from the very beginning!” Mom shouted at me and pushed me out of the door.

I tried to reach for her hand and asked for forgiveness for those mistakes I didn’t do but she shoved my hands away.

“You should leave or else I’m going to report you to the police, you killer!” Mom was enraged as she said those words.

“M-Mom!” I tried to embrace her but Chelsea appeared beside her and forcefully  pushed me that made me fall on the ground.

“Don’t take her back, Mom, Dad!” Chelsea looked at our parents and began to cry. “She’ll hurt me again! I swear, she wants to get everything from me!”

“Not a chance, Chels,” Dad looked at me with disgust. “That girl isn’t part of our family to begin with.”

“We never intend to take you in. If not for my brother, you should have wandered in the street as a beggar! But now that he is gone, there’s no way we can still accept you after what you’ve done to my daughter!”

Without a slightest hesitation, they turned their back on me and closed the door. I bursted into tears and clutched my chest tightly. Still sitting on the ground, I felt that I was at the lowest point of my life.

Being treated as a stranger was still tolerable knowing that I’d still get to see them every single day, but now that I was kicked out from the house I still called home despite the beatings I got from my parents and sister, it became more evident that I was born unwanted, and could easily be thrown away whenever it was convenient to them, even to my biological parents…

The rain poured heavily which added up to the heavy emotions I kept inside my chest. I sobbed as I stood up on my feet. My old highschool uniform was so soaked that it sent chills to my bones. I embraced myself and took one last look at the mansion of Steinfields, which I considered as family.

Something inside me tore apart. I knew to myself that I’d love them even though they hated me, but I guess, they really were disgusted in me that they’d wished me gone from their lives, forever.

***

WANDERING on the darkness of the streets, I felt both of my knees shaking because of the cold. With my wet clothes, and the rain which didn’t stop pouring, I started to feel the heat building up within my body. I lost count on how many hours I’d been walking out here in the dark. I tried to seek help from the houses I passed by. However, based on how they shoo me away thinking that I’d bring them harm, I realized how cruel some humans really were.

I stumbled to my feet as my vision started to blur. I hadn’t eaten anything since the afternoon. Chelsea threw my packed lunch out of the window when she had the time to bully me in class. I bit my lower lip, anger starting to engulf my entire system from the realization of how long I put up to her. I didn’t know what I did in the past to experience such horrible things from her… or could it be that fate was really just harsh to me?

Did I really deserve this kind of suffering the night before my birthday?

I looked up at the night sky. The full moon loomed enormous, a blazing yellowy white encircled by an ethereal radiance. My gaze pinned on it as it was drawing my full attention. Then there was a slight shift in the air. All of a sudden, I felt a lodge in my throat. Staring at the moon, a beam of moonlight fell directly on me, as if it was trying to bless me at this very moment, freeing me from my agony. The next thing happened, an unfamiliar and unbearable heat radiated through my body.

There was something about the moon that triggered a part of me, and it wanted to emerge from my body. I bawled, my body arched as the heat became fatal. I didn’t know what was happening to me but the sound of wolves howling from somewhere made me feel worse.

“W-What’s happening to me?” I asked myself when I managed to look away from the moon.

My eyes flared as I gazed down the wet ground. I tried to stand up, but had gotten more shocked when my nails started to grow longer, digging deeper beneath the soft soil.

A pang of fear struck my chest, leaving me with a ragged breath. Then I whimpered loudly when I felt something strange happening with my bones.

Was I dying? I thought, enduring the excruciating pain, and with tears falling down my cheeks.

I was all too aware about the rustle from across the forest. I got used to the feeling that someone had been watching me, however this time was different.

“H-Help!” I cried in pain, hoping that someone would show up to help me in this terror.

I tried to stand up once again but to no avail. My bones cracked inside of me, as if it wanted to adjust over something. I screamed, looked up at the full moon, and felt my teeth growing out.

Strangely, the air blew stronger and before I even realized what happened, a woman with a deep red eye color stood in front of me. Her entire physique screamed of trouble, pale, blonde and definitely didn’t look human. She crouched, putting her first two fingers on my forehead. As our gazes locked to each other, she mumbled something.

“Fret not, sweetheart. The first shift was never friendly…” she said. “But you can’t shift while you’re here in the human land. Now, I command you to close your eyes, sleep, and never worry.”

Her eyes glowed. It was as if she put a spell on me, causing me to close my eyes and fall asleep.